The Ancient Art of Revenge: A Final Fantasy 7 Tale
by Genevieve Lightblade
Summary: The story of Sephiroth's wife is one that is not known. A woman whose strength was also her weakness. Betrayed by those closest to her, wanted for the power she possesed; her role in the world of FF7 was greater than one could imagine.
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

The Ancient Art of Revenge  
  
Prologue  
  
There were times when I thought that somewhere throughout this journey, something would make sense. I guess I was hoping that a miracle, a sign would jump right out at me and say: "This is it! This is why you did the things that you did!" But the longer I waited the more I knew that that was not to be. We are put here to make our own decision. The natures of which we do things; the mistakes that we make are not told to us by some Supreme Being. No, we were left to fend for our lives, thus reaping what we sow.  
I suppose that's why I left the island without a doubt in the world, not a care in my mind. The boat went further and further out to sea and with it went my hopes and dreams and the last shred of family that I had ever known.  
I sighed and leaned against the rail of the ship, letting the now gentle lulling of the sea waves comfort me. I was tired of feeling sorry for the sins of the past. It was time to think of the future, it was time to decide my fate.  
"Genevieve," The slight turn of my head wasn't necessary, I knew who had spoken to me.  
"It is...time."  
"I," I stopped for a moment, hesitant, this was a decision that was about to change my life. "I...I don't know what to say." I said, my cheeks flushed. The wind blew my hair sending tendrils into the air, as if they too were trying to escape everlasting captivity. "It's all so sudden." I added softly.  
"Yes or no," came his harsh voice. "-It's as simple as that." I turned around and found my eyes searching his face for any sign of comfort I could find. I found only that cold beauty and calculating glare that I had become so intoxicated with in the past few weeks.  
"I can give you what you need." Sephiroth said eyes finally looking away from me and towards the horizon. "Shelter, food, money...a family."  
"And love, what about that?" I asked. The words just spewed forth, I couldn't stop them from spilling from my lips. Sephiroth's eyes turned back to me. Nothing had changed in those Mako orbs of his; they were still as cold as a frozen wasteland. He smiled at me slowly as he moved his face toward mine.  
"Love?" he smirked at the word. "Love will be learned, my dear...it will be learned."  
I was afraid then as he kissed me. He was still so new.  
But then again, so too was I.  
So too was I.  
  
Part One  
  
Sometimes the smallest things can seem huge to new eyes. That's how I felt as we anchored in Midgar. I couldn't stop turning my head; I couldn't stop looking at all the things that I had only dreamed of. At one point I think I saw Sephiroth look at me with a slight smile on his lips, as if he too were enjoying the sight through my eyes. Things happened quickly after that. Our engagement was announced and plans were made. I had to be tailored a gown and headdress in three days, a place had to be booked, invitations had to be sent.  
My wedding was unlike any I had witnessed while growing up on Solaris. It was more business, showier and less friendly. I felt as if the women stared at me with daggers shooting from their eyes and the men looked as if they had never seen my species before.  
Finally, it was done and I had become Mrs. Sephiroth Lightblade in a matter of days. We enjoyed two days to ourselves in which Sephiroth showed me the city, told me how to get around and what to look out for. He gave me complete access to his account and told me to do with it as I pleased. When I saw how much gil he had I nearly choked. Here I was just days ago having had no more than 200 gil to my name. Now, I was the executioner of a rather large fortune.  
I must admit I enjoyed the days that we spent together as husband and wife. I was beginning to smother my feelings of doubt and was becoming almost at ease with Sephiroth. His mood was dapper, almost light. He actually smiled for the first day or so.  
"You know," he said to me on the third day of our marriage, "I have to leave today."  
"What?" I bolted awake immediately. "But-you can't leave!" I threw the silken bed covers off of me and rose from the bed. "What am I supposed to do while you're gone?"  
He turned and looked at me, a slight smug smile on his face.  
"Genevieve, this is what I do." He sighed. Sephiroth had a way of being infinitely patient, but at a price. "I fight battles; win wars and make money."  
"And besides...the situation in Wutai has gone on for long enough." He said his eyes not softening one bit.  
"But...I'm afraid." I said. "You can't just leave me here." I pouted.  
  
He quirked a silvery brow at me and shook his head.  
"You'll be fine." He assured me. "I've taken care of it all." He reached for me and pulled me to him once more.  
I wanted to trust him; I wanted to believe that I would be fine. I didn't know. * * *  
  
Part Two  
  
Genevieve,  
Your mother and I regret to inform you that we can not accept your invitation to visit you in Midgar. The factory demands too much of my time and your mother can't tear herself away from this fabulous piece of needlework she is currently doing. Your sister is engaged to Dahmon DiGrassi and they are to be wed soon. Josephine sends her deep regret and tells me to inform you that the invitation she sent you was lost in the mail. Dahmon is well, though he will never completely heal from the wound that your husband inflicted. I'm quite sure Dahmon wishes to thank Lord Lightblade for that. Unfortunately your mother doesn't remember much about your Aunt Ilfalna's whereabouts. Ilfalna and her daughter Aerith were last heard from in Midgar. Seems that Shinra had somehow gotten hold of Ilfalna, but not Aerith. Perhaps I was wrong about Aerith, perhaps she did die. It doesn't matter. Her death will have been in vain since you married the enemy. Need I remind you how disappointed your mother and I are. Have you handed over the materia yet? Have you flushed all my hard work down the drain?  
No matter, no daughter of mine is going to traipse around with an enemy of this family. I guess that's why you are no longer my daughter.  
  
Logan Hawthorne  
  
My hands shook as I read the letter. My father hated me. That's the only thing that I could draw from the letter. I could feel his anger through the paper, through the words...he hated me so much. Apparently my sister and my mother felt the same way. The hatred was enough to send my blood running cold. I was alone in this world now. It was just me, my husband, and the life growing inside of me.  
I let the latter drop from my shaking hands and rubbed my still flat abdomen. Sephiroth had been gone for two months. I had found out that I was pregnant two days ago.  
A knock at the door pulled me back to my senses. I looked at the clock and back at the door. The mail had already come and gone. Who could this be? I opened the door, my slight heels clicking against the wood of the floor. I opened the door only to see the dashingly handsome Rufus Shinra standing there looking as sleek and suave as ever.  
"Genevieve." His eyes swept over me, making me feel slightly more comfortable than a piece of meat. "You look...wonderful." My face glowed warmly with the compliment. I held the door open wider and let him pass through.  
Rufus Shinra was the son of the president of Shinra and my husband's employer. He was the head of several operations within Shinra including its task force called 'The Turks'. Recently he relinquished command of The Turks to a man by the name of Tseng, just so he could take better care of me in my husbands absence.  
"Rufus...I wasn't aware that you were stopping by today." I said trying to hide the disappointment in my voice. I liked Rufus, really, I did, but I couldn't help to think that he thought of me as more than just a friend. The fact that I was married didn't seem to phase him either. "If I would've known I would've had some coffee or tea prepared-"  
"Oh not to worry, my dear." He reached out and took my hand in his. "I actually wanted you to accompany me on an errand I have to do today."  
"Oh?" I said and pulled my hand out of his grasp. I pretended to busy myself with something...a piece of the telephone wire...a lock of hair anywhere but in Rufus' hand. "Well...where are you going?"  
Rufus walked in and plopped down on the black leather sofa. His blond hair was neatly styled and trimmed just above the ears. His eyes were blue, but not the warm blue that I remembered Cloud's eyes to be, but cold. I shivered as I turned away from him.  
"A sympathy errand to Sector 5." He said and picked up a small picture of Sephiroth and I on our wedding day. I thought I saw a look of hatred shinning in Rufus' eyes for a moment, perhaps not. "My father thinks it would be good to get some publicity, you know something that'll make the townspeople say 'Shinra Inc. is doing something good again.'" He replaced the picture and turned back to me. "Anyway I thought perhaps that you'd like to join me."  
I smiled trying to buy myself a few moments of time knowing that I couldn't.  
"I'd like to, but I'm hardly dressed for the occasion." I said hoping Rufus would buy my lame excuse and move on.  
"I'll wait then." He put his feet on the coffee table and leaned back into the sofa, making himself quite at home. "Go on, get presentable."  
I sighed and walked down the hall to my bedroom, opened the closet and proceeded to pick out something suitable to wear. Lucky for Rufus I had taken an afternoon shower not too long ago.  
After moving the countless evening gowns and skirts I finally found something that I would feel comfortable in.  
When I pulled the garment out I felt instant tears well up. It was my favorite dress from home. The only piece of clothing I had bothered to bring with me.  
I disrobed slipping out of my fashionable pants and top and lifted the dress over my head. The dress slipped on like a pair of old, comfortable slippers. I turned to my image in the mirror. The dress was a pretty shade of periwinkle, the material was strong and slightly ribbed, but very soft to the touch. I tied the strings together that connected the entire dress and (after a little digging in my closet) managed to find a black pair of boots with a fashionable heel.  
I pulled half of my hair back into a bun, letting the excess hair hang loosely and made my way back to the living room.  
"Are you wearing that?" Rufus asked, one of his blond brows quirked slightly.  
"Well...yes." I said. "I thought that comfort was a better way to go than style this time. If you don't like it I suppose I could just stay home- " I started to head back towards the bedroom.  
Rufus sighed as he stood.  
"No, no, we're late as it is." He huffed. "Come, we must be on our way."  
"Alright-" I said and started out of the door with him hoping that the "errand" would be quick and to the point.  
  
* * *  
  
Part Three  
  
"People actually live here?" I asked incredulously. I'd never visited the Slums of Midgar before, but I never dreamed they would be as bad as they were. People made their homes out of anything down here, old trailers, huge pipes, along the huge support beam that held the upper plate intact.  
"Why does Shinra allow this?" I asked Rufus. Rufus' eyes narrowed as he looked out of the window of the train. Clearly he took no pleasure in coming to the Slums.  
"These people deserve to live the way they do." He smirked. "This is the most rotten place in Midgar. Even the rodents have more class than these people." He laughed at his own private joke.  
"Rufus, certainly not everyone down here is all bad. What of the children?" I asked.  
"Future trash." Rufus laughed again. He reached for a glass of Brandy.  
"I've always liked Brandy, did you know that?" Rufus said as he swirled the dark liquid around in its glass. "It's smooth, has a lovely fragrance, tastes wonderful at first...but burns going down." He took a sip, rolled it around in his mouth before swallowing it. A moment later he downed the entire contents of the glass. He smiled at me again. "It's a bit like you, you know."  
I tore my eyes away from Rufus, wondering when the train would finally arrive at the Sector 5 station. Even though the cabin was rather large and fairly sizable, the cabin suddenly became smaller, the walls suddenly seemed to close in on us.  
Rufus smiled and sat next to me.  
"Rufus...what are you doing?" I asked. It started then, the scream of the Planet. I heard it, an earth shattering wail that rose to a crescendo in my cranium. I closed my eyes. I was close to something. I knew it. Something was here, in these Slums of Midgar...something was here and I was supposed to find it.  
"What's wrong with you?" Rufus asked, slightly flushed at this point.  
"The Planet...it's screaming...it won't stop!" I said. My head throbbed as the hauntingly beautiful song of the Planet coursed through my mind.  
It stopped.  
I waited...one heartbeat, two, three...the sound did not return. Calmed, I turned back to Rufus who was looking at me as if I was crazy.  
"Are you...alright?" he asked.  
"Yes." I answered. "Fine." Somewhat satisfied, Rufus leaned back, putting one arm around me as he did. There was thick silence that followed.  
I saw the moment happen before it did. Rufus pulled me closer to him and pushed his lips over mine. Struggling, finally I was able to release myself.  
"What the hell was that?!" I asked as I pushed Rufus away.  
"I just wanted to see what you tasted like, that's all." He laughed. When the expression on my face didn't change, he laughed. "Come now, Genevieve. It was a friendly kiss between friends."  
I moved away from Rufus and distracted myself by looking out of the window. I watched the meager environment of the Slums pass by the window. I saw several people walking about, doing the things in their normal, everyday lives in the Slums.  
A lone girl dressed in pink and carrying a basket of yellow flowers caught my attention. She turned, her eyes glancing curiously at the train as it passed.  
The Planet screamed again. Only this time it was harmonious, melodic...beautiful.  
"Stop the train, Rufus."  
  
"What?! I can't stop the train in the middle of a slum-"  
  
"Stop the train!" I yelled.  
"Genevieve, I can not stop the train!" Rufus exclaimed.  
"Fine, then I'll get off here." I said. Before he could move I stood and made my way to the back of the car. I opened the door and stepped out onto the cabin.  
"Genevieve! What the hell are you doing?!" Rufus screamed. Too late, I stepped over the edge and flung myself as far away from the train as I could. In my decent down I took a small green orb from my pocket and cast Float on myself.  
"GENEVIEVE!!!" I landed on my feet gently, not a hair on my head harmed.  
There I was, lost in the Slums...pregnant...the only Ancient left...or was I?  
I started after the girl in the pink dress, the wonderful melodic music now a dull whisper in my ear. 


	2. Chapter 2:Duties

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Final Fantasy VII. All likenesses and rights belong to Squaresoft/SquareEnix

I awoke with a start, the music in my dream dying as my eyes adjusted to my surroundings.

A dream.

It had been a dream.

I closed my eyes and tried to recapture the last images before they floated away from my memory. The only thing I could really remember was the girl, the girl in the pale pink dress and dusty brown boots. That's all. It was odd, but she somehow felt strangley familier to me. As if I'd met her before. And I had been pregnant in the dream. I lifted the sheets and examined my belly. It was still flat, no baby in there.

I let out a slow, shaky sigh and turned my blurred vision to the clock on the nightstand. Its neon green numbers read 3:45.

I lay there for a moment, trying to will the rest of the dream to come back. It didn't. I sat up in the bed. It felt too large for just myself.

It had been almost two months since my husbands departure for Wutai. I had recieved no calls, no letters, no sign that he still existed. It just wasn't his way, I supposed.

I, however, sent letters every week as I adjusted to life inside of Midgar. I dutifully walked to the post office every Friday and gave the letter to the post mistress. She would smile at me and make idle conversation; ask me things like how I was enjoying life in the city and had I heard anything on the warfront. I would smile back and say I liked the city very much and no, I hadn't heard anything about the war. Then the day came where she finally asked the question I knew had been coming.

"So, what did a small island girl like yourself do to catch a man like Sephiroth?"

"Excuse me?" I asked bewildered by her boldness. " I don't believe I understand what you're saying."

"Oh dear, you don't have to pretend anymore." She smiled and tossed her shiny brown hair back from her smooth forehead. " Do you know how many women have been after him? I'd imagine almost every woman in Midgar would jump at the chance to spend one night with him."

"Uh...I didn't do anything, I was just myself." My golden eyes were wide with shock I was sure.

"Just being yourself, why you must know tricks even Mistress Scarlett herself doesn't know, and that's saying a lot." She gave me a wink as she took my letter and stamped it. "The gods know she tried for years to get the General to marry her. Guess you beat her to the punch, eh?"

I stood there bewildered for a moment, unable to reply. The postmistress took my silence as ignorance and felt the need to eloborate.

"Oh, you know who Scarlett is, she's one of the Shinra Executive Comitee Board Memebers. She's in charge of Weopans Development. The things I've heard about her would make your head spin. But, you already must know most of her tricks, huh?"

"What-" My eyes narrows then, "exactly do you mean by "tricks" madame?"

My golden eyes bored into her brown ones and she immediatley knew she'd made a mistake.

"I..er, nothing." She cleared her throat as if trying to redeem herself. " I simply thought...uh, have a good day!"

I can not deny that I left the post office quite confused that day.

I sighed again. Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, my feet found my slippers and I rose, making my way to the kitchen. Our apartment was lavish and bigger than most houses had been on the island. There were three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large kitchen, a sizable dining room and an office. We currenltly only used one bedroom (the other two didn't even have beds), one of the bathrooms (which contained a huge marble tub), and ate in the kitchen. I'd never been in the office for more than 5 minutes and the dining room didn't even have a table.

Reaching my destination, I opened the fridge, pulled out a carton of orange juice and proceeded to pour myself a glass.

I hated being alone in this huge, new city. I didn't know anyone, didn't know my way around. I had no friends and no activities. Suddenly I found myself upset at Sephiroth for leaving me so soon after my arrival. What did he expect me to do here? Wait patiently and keep myself entertained? How?

Frustraited, I dashed my empty glass into the sink a little too hard, for I heard the tinkleling sound letting me know that a part of it had broken.

After I cleaned up the glass, I returned to the bedroom and tried to get some sleep.

I gazed out of the window at the light from one of the seven reactors in the city.

Minening the land of its very life. It felt wrong of me to be here. I was a child of the earth, how could I live in a place that had such little reguard for the Planet? No wonder my parents were so dissappointed in me.

I tossed and turned myself into an uneasy sleep finally.

In the morning I was pleasantly surprised as I checked the mail. A letter arrived bearing the smooth, sweeping writing of my husband. I tore it open like a child opening a present.

_Genevieve,_

_I have taken from your excesive writing that you are severly bored. I have spoken with President Shinra and he has agreed to set you up with some sort of activity envolving charity work on behalf of the company. I don't know what it will entail, but I am sure it will keep you busy. I will not bother writing of trivial detalis of the war, they are of no concern to you. Know that I am well and will succeed in my mission, I always do. I don't know when I'll get a leave, so don't bother asking again. _

_However, I do offer this word of warning on your first visit with the council, ignore Scarlett. She has quite the jelouse personality. I expect you'll find that out soon. _

_Your charity work will start soon, President Shinra has said that his son, Rufus, has offered to help you get acostumed to things. _

_Remember, you are my wife and I am your husband._

_-Sephiroth_

I read the letter twice wondering what that last line ment. As if I would ever forget that he was my husband. He eluded me, that was for sure.

I had little time to dwell on the matter however for a knock at my door grabbed my attention.

Wondering who would come calling on me at such an early hour, I smoothed my clothes over before opening the door.

"Hello Mistress Lightblade," said the tall, handsome blond man that the door revealed. "- Rufus Shinra at your service."


End file.
